


Rise of Konoha’s Beautiful Blue Wild Beast

by KusanoSaku



Series: The Legacy of the Will of Fire [6]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Rock Lee, Chef Rock Lee, Gen, Genius of Hard Work Rock Lee, Hyuuga Family Drama, Implied Nohara Rin/Maito Gai, Lee and Gai are oblivious about their blood relationship, Lee is Gai's Illegitimate Son, Nohara Rin Lives, Nohara Rin as Team Gai's mom, One-Sided Attraction, One-Sided Haruno Sakura/Rock Lee - Freeform, Taijutsu Genius Rock Lee, Team Gai Dynamics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:49:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26999968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KusanoSaku/pseuds/KusanoSaku
Summary: Maito Gai’s illegitimate son Lee Rokū strives to become a great ninja like his unknown father despite not having any skill with Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. Unknown to both father and son, Lee ends up subordinate to his own father.
Relationships: Hyuuga Neji & Rock Lee & Tenten, Rock Lee & Lee's Grandmother, Rock Lee & Maito Gai | Might Guy
Series: The Legacy of the Will of Fire [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/184676
Kudos: 3





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is for my RL boyfriend who taught me that Lee's character was amazing and inspired me to make him as epic as my Ino. Lee's mother's name is the Romaji version of Crystal- Kuritsutaru and his grandmother is Jueru. They sounded similar to Roku and Metaru.

Prologue

Lee Rokū grew up helping around his obaasan’s curry shop, this meant that the first knives he mastered weren’t kunai, but chef’s knives.

Despite his poor marks in the Academy entrance exam, his mother Kuritsutaru encouraged him, “I believe you can still be a strong ninja.”

“Without ninjutsu or genjutsu?” Lee sniffled.

“Your father is a very strong ninja. I believe that when you become strong enough, he will recognize you as his son.”

“Does he not know about me?” Lee frowned.

“Think of yourself as a surprise gift that he has yet to discover.” His mother said absently.

Lee loved surprises, especially when his obaasan challenged him to discover the secret ingredient this week.

He would train hard to prove he could be a strong ninja despite not having any genjutsu or ninjutsu.

XoooooooX

Despite wanting to prove himself as a ninja, Lee didn’t have any friends. Everyone taunted him about his failure to accomplish even the simplest of jutsus.

Lee’s mother and grandmother were so proud of him, that he didn’t tell them about being bullied. Instead, he told them about the new jutsus they learned in class, modeled the hand signs and explained what they did, even if he couldn’t activate them.

Lee wore his hair in a braid because his grandmother liked to comb and braid his hair after a bath. Yet, one day his classmates grabbed him by it and he was so tangled that the only way that Funeon-sensei could free him was to cut it off.

He told his family that he’d had an accident at school, so he had his hair cut for his own safety. His grandmother was so upset but Lee made her breakfast as a surprise to make her smile.

Lee felt horrible for lying to them, but they were so proud of him, he couldn’t tell them the truth.

XoooooooX

The day Lee graduated from the academy and was assigned a jōnin sensei was the best day of his life.

They were met in the classroom by a green spandex-wearing jōnin, “You ready to run into the Springtime of Youth with me?”

His teammates were Hyūga Nēji, their year’s genius and Tenten, who was best with weapons. She was often found polishing her kunai during breaks.

Lee recognized their sensei as someone who had stopped to encourage him when he feeling down since he kept failing the clone and henge jutsus.

“The mettle of youth is one of passion with no looking back!” Lee responded excitedly.

Maito Gai gave him a thumbs up and a blinding smile, “Yes, if you work hard Lee, you will become a fine Shinobi. Yay!”

“You’re our sensei?” Tenten asked in disbelief.

“Yes, be ambitious. Ah, the Springtime of Youth… come on then. We should find a more relaxing place to talk.”

They dutifully followed to a row of seats at the end of a long balcony of sorts.

Once they were seated, Gai leaned against the roof-supporting pillar, “Today, you have all become genin. I want to hear what your goals for the future are.”

“I’m not interested in discussing them,” Nēji grumbled.

“I… I will!” Lee said enthusiastically as he raised his hand, “I’d like to prove that I could become a splendid ninja, even though I can’t use ninjutsu or genjutsu! That would be the ultimate for me!”

Nēji snorted.

Lee jumped out of his seat, glowering, “You! What’s so funny?! I’m serious! I will become a respectable ninja with just taijutsu.”

Nēji scoffed, “Don’t you realize that if you can’t use ninjutsu or genjutsu, you’re not a real ninja to begin with? Don’t you remember being told that you’re the first person to graduate from the academy who’s only able to use taijutsu? It’s not because you’re so good; it’s just that you’re unusual.”

“Wha!” Lee blurted out.

“Listen up!” Gai-sensei interjected, “If you have passion, it’s not necessarily so.”

Lee spun around to see the familiar thumbs up and glistening smile.

“If you act with passion, compete with good rivals and lift each other up, you can all be great ninja!”

“Don’t give the baka false hope.” Nēji scoffed.

Gai-sensei ignored Nēji, “But you know, you have to work hard!”

As Gai laughed, he gave him a wink and a thumbs-up, Lee felt encouraged and inspired.

Then their sensei leapt off the balcony, chiding another adult ninja.

“You’re late!”

“I got lost on the path of life.” The masked ninja yawned.

“You failed your students, didn’t you, Kakashi?” Gai-sensei frowned.

“I told them I wasn’t going to be a jōnin to any team but Naruto and Sasuke’s. They sent me a set of triplets who didn’t understand the concept of teamwork. I don’t understand why they graduated. I dealt with them and then came here. Can we not do this today? After wasting my morning, I’m tired.”

“We’re at 48 wins each, this match will put one of us ahead,” Gai-sensei said enthusiastically.

“You wouldn’t let me put it off, even if I say I don’t want to do it. It’s my turn to choose the event, right?”

Right!” Gai-sensei pumped his fist, “Right? What’s it gonna be? A taijutsu battle? A 100-meter dash? Holding our breath underwater?” their sensei started stretching, “I don’t care, we could even have an eating contest.”

“You’ve got to be kidding, there is no way a fool like that has 48 wins against a genius like Hatake Kakashi.” Nēji snorted.

“Alright then,”

“What is it? What?” Gai-sensei asked excitedly.

“Jan-ken-pon.” Kakashi announced boredly.

“Jan-ken-pon? That’s what you choose?” Gai-sensei yelped in shock.

“They say that luck is one part of your skill, don’t they? Plus, it is a great competition for testing your observational skills.” Kakashi yawned.

“Oh, right.” Gai sensei muttered. “No cheating and using the sharingan.”

“I take our competitions seriously,” Hatake-san said annoyed, “I would never.”

Nēji snorted, “It looks like Hatake-san is playing around with Gai-sensei. Our jōnin doesn’t seem very bright…”

“It does seem that way…” Tenten sighed.

Gai-sensei grinned, “Then, I accept that battle. There’s no way I’m gonna lose! If I do, I’ll walk around Konoha 500 times on my hands!”

“Well, that’s excessive,” Tenten mumbled.

“It’s a promise!” Gai-sensei said with his glistening smile and a thumbs-up.

“There you go again with your excessive self-imposed rules.” Hatake-san sighed.

“He can’t do that, is he really that stupid?” Nēji snorted. “This is ridiculous, he’s acting like a kid.”

Lee was certain that such a feat was impossible, even for a jōnin like Gai-sensei.

Yet as ridiculous as this competition was, Gai-sensei was taking it seriously.

Nēji stalked off after Gai-sensei lost, Tenten sighed, “I’d better head to our family’s weapons shop. If we’re not having a mission, I want to get in as many hours as I can.”

Lee walked stunned as Gai-sensei accepted his defeat, “I’ll see you next challenge! Excuse me, I have 500 laps around Konoha on my hands to do. It’s a promise, yay!”

“I’m going to meet up with Iruka and walk him home then. He mentioned having a short day today.” Kakashi shrugged.

Lee shadowed his sensei outside the village and was surprised that despite the sniggers from the villagers, that his sensei was indeed keeping his rash promise.

XoooooooX

It was late, and Lee was late for dinner when he stepped in front of Gai-sensei.

Gai-sensei blinked, “Lee, what are you doing here?”

“Why are you doing this? Kakashi-san is not here. No one is watching and when they are, they just laugh.”

“When a man makes a promise in a nice-guy pose to others, he should keep his promise even if it kills him!”

Lee smiled to himself and laughed quietly, he remembered his grandmother’s words about promises being important. He wanted his father, whom he had yet meet, to be as wise as Gai-sensei.

Gai-sensei blinked, “What?”

“Why do you always do that? When you’re about to start something, do you always come up with some crazy rule?”

Gai-sensei sprung off his hands to crouch in front of Lee, as if talking to him was important.

“That is a good question, you really know how to get to the point.” Gai said enthusiastically, “Ok, I’ll tell you. But remember, you can’t tell anyone else.”

“Alright, what is it?”

“Making self-rules are the key to a practice that brings me victory,” Gai-sensei announced.

“Self-rules?” Lee murmured.

“The point of these rules is that, when you’re going after something, they push you into a real tough spot. It’s about chaining yourself down. For example, on the other side of that hellish rule that ‘if I lose at jan-ken-pon, I’ll do 500 laps is the idea that ‘if I do 500 laps, there’s no way I won’t be able to beat Kakashi next time. They hold power, the potential of the heavens.”

Halfway through Gai’s explanation, Lee pulled out the small notebook that he used at the academy to notate various jutsus to perform for his family as well as their intended effects. He thought Gai-sensei for all his unusualness was a good person as well as very wise. He nodded and murmured in acknowledgement.

“If one is chained down by 500 laps, it makes you get serious about something seemingly insignificant, such as jan-ken-pon competitions. Even if you lose, walking around the village 500 times will give you the benefit of extremely intense training.” Gai-sensei said confidently.

“I see!” Lee exclaimed excitedly.

“Alright, I’ve gotta do a little more. Here I go!”

“I’m going with you! I have my own ‘self-rule’, which is,”

“Hey, hey, don’t push yourself, Lee.” Gai-sensei protested, “This is my challenge, not yours.”

“If I can’t keep up with you, Gai-sensei; I’ll try even harder,” Lee said determinedly, he needed to get stronger to prove that his graduation wasn’t a mistake and that Gai-sensei’s promise he could become a splendid ninja came true. “That is, I intend to be just like you. If I keep working hard, I’m sure I will become a strong ninja!”

“Very well, full speed with the power of youth!” Gai-sensei said enthusiastically.

Lee was going to be very late for dinner, but he had a feeling it wouldn’t be the last time.

XoooooooX

His mother’s reaction to his sensei’s name was curious, but Lee was too excited to question it. His obaasan celebrated by serving him a very large bowl of curry and proclaiming that he was the first ninja in their family.

Lee excitedly ate his curry, while his mother and grandmother looked on. Lee would make them proud!

Lee would become the strongest ninja he could, with Gai-sensei as his sensei, Lee was certain he would be amazing.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It was a year since Gai-sensei had summoned them to a meeting to discuss the Chūnin Exams.

Gai-sensei magnanimously announced that this year he felt they had matured enough to sit the Chūnin Exams.

Lee immediately was excited, musing about his possible opponents and declaring his intent to face Nēji.

Nēji of course was dismissive as usual of the prospect of Lee lasting very long or being suited for a leadership role when he merely possessed taijutsu.

Lee ignored Nēji’s caustic tongue, the other was lonely and tended to be sharp when being dismissive. He would just have to earn Nēji’s respect by sparring…

Nēji had gotten a lot less rude as obaasan would call it after being a team over a year. Gai insisted on teambuilding exercises, he took them to the Forest of Death for camping training and taijutsu sparring with the predators there.

Gai-sensei insisted on eating together once a week after missions, which usually were either at Lee’s family curry shop or Gai-sensei’s. Rin-san, who was Gai-sensei’s good friend but also his love interest, had been pleased Lee could cook and he helped her in the kitchen a lot. While Nēji still verbally short, he was more thoughtful than rude. He didn’t outright insult him, he usually ignored him or let him do test a new taijutsu without much complaining these days.

Lee, Nēji and Tenten agreed to keep their heads down and keep their skills to themselves.

The last thing either expected was a genjutsu that Nēji effortlessly canceled on them, so they knew although they pretended not to, that they were being prevented from entering room 201, not 301 for registration for the Chūnin exams.

They were being bullied by younger versions of ninja that Lee was almost certain were friends of Gai-sensei. Lee let them beat him up and give the impression that he was injured using genjutsu cast by Nēji, Nēji had refused to look weak even momentarily.

Gai-sensei disliked lying, but subterfuge was often part of a mission. They had grown a lot and Lee hoped that he would make Gai-sensei proud by succeeding in the exams.

Lee was distracted by his debate about whether or not he was suited to face the expected duties of a Chūnin, by the appearance of a girl with pink hair and green eyes, he thought she was beautiful. He decided that he would confess his attraction…

He did his best to impress her, using Gai-sensei’s nice guy pose.

She said his confession was over the top and she didn’t like guys that forward.

Lee was determined to gain her respect, so he recklessly challenged her teammate Uchiha Sasuke, only to get called out after using a forbidden jutsu by Gai-sensei’s summons, Ningame.

He was lectured by the talking tortoise and then Gai-sensei appeared to lecture him as well. Lee took the punch as it was deserved for disobeying and then, as usual Lee, Ningame and Gai-sensei cried when he had to be punished.

Then came the training regiment, a punishment that both Gai-sensei and Lee himself ran off excitedly for.

XoooooooX

Since Lee was smart enough to figure out that the first round was meant to test their intelligence gathering, he wasn’t at all ashamed of ‘cheating’ with Ten-ten’s help.

He managed to pass to his exuberance, with Rin and Gai buying them curry to celebrate at Lee’s family ramen shop.

His obaasan handed him a very special set of knives as a present.

Lee beamed at her, “These are weighted!”

“I asked your friend Tenten to design them, I wanted to blend your two skills: fighting and cooking.”

Lee bounced up, “Let me help!”

“Lee, this is supposed to be a celebration.”

His obaasan protested.

“At least let me make Nēji’s, he dislikes anything spicy.”

“Very well, Lee-tan. You may help.” His grandmother agreed with a smile.

Lee pumped his fist in celebration and carried his new knives with pride.

He made up some very mild curry for his teammate as well as strawberry and sweet sesame dumplings for dessert for Rin-san who liked strawberry anything and Tenten who really liked sesame dumplings.

He and his grandmother brought out everyone’s food together.

Curry was definitely _not_ Nēji’s favorite food, but his teammate couldn’t cook, so Lee did his best to make sure that when they were together that he ate well.

They ate excitedly, with Nēji even muttering that the curry was tolerable.

Lee grinned, that was high praise from Nēji.

Once they finished, Lee darted back into the kitchen for his homemade desserts.

He set down the plate of strawberry odango in front of Rin-san and the sesame odango in front of Tenten who frowned.

“Lee, you didn’t need to go to such trouble.”

Lee waved his hand, “You made me the coolest knives, it was the least I could do.”

“That’s my Lee, so thoughtful,” Gai-sensei said with a big grin and a thumbs up.

Lee felt himself tearing up, “Gai-sensei!”

“Best get some good rest, you’ve got the second-round tomorrow. You know it’s hard to sleep restfully in the Forest of Death. You’re lucky to have experience there already.” Rin-san said with a delicate yawn.

Gai-sensei insisted on escorting her home and walking her pack with her. While Tenten and Nēji left as well. Gai-sensei was always doing his best to show them what an honorable man, not just a ninja was. This was much appreciated since neither Lee nor Nēji had a father in their lives.

Lee stayed up long enough to do what dishes there were to his grandmother’s usual protests. He did his best to be as helpful as he could when he was home.

XoooooooX

Lee woke up early, far earlier than necessary. He was anxious. So, he pre-cut and soaked veggies for his grandmother in saltwater to avoid them drying out.

Lee made snacks for his team and set them in containers for Gai-sensei to seal. While Lee preferred to cook for them, it would be safer and quicker to dry camp.

There was onigiri, katsu sandwiches, yakitori, inari sushi, hanamaki sushi, kaarage, nikuman, gyoza and yakisoba-pan. 

Lee’s obaasan arrived in their kitchen yawning, “Lee-tan, why are you awake? It’s so early.”

“Too excited,” Lee said with manly enthusiasm.

At least let me make you a proper breakfast while you go get ready.”

Lee bowed respectfully and hurried up to change, his grandmother was a very good person and like Gai-sensei, Lee tried very hard not to disappoint.

Lee returned to the kitchen, where he was surprised to find Gi-sensei. They had a manly embrace to show their enthusiasm before Gai-sensei helped Lee used stasis jutsus on his food.

Gai was very proud of Lee’s thoughtful gesture of both pre-packing food for the Second Round of the Chūnin exams, but also preparing a large number of vegetables for today’s curry dishes for his grandmother. Gai-sensei escorted him to meet up with Tenten and Nēji before heading off for an appointment. He wished them luck and the passion of the Springtime of Youth before letting them head off to the Forest of Death.

Lee, Nēji and Tenten were of course early. They took their place and waited for the others to arrive.

Lee may not be considered as observant as Nēji, but even he noticed the subtle protection and deference that the Amegakure ninja showed to a kunoichi with red hair and eyes who wore dark brown glasses.

There was a slight altercation with Kakashi-sensei’s kunoichi genin Haruno, Lee’s crush who said that it was unfair to have them face giant insects and snakes. Given that most girls were supposedly uncomfortable with snakes and insects, her reaction made sense.

Nēji accepted the release of liability forms which all three of their team had signed prior due to their previous training experience in this training ground. Lee personally doubted they needed a new one, but it would be unfair to reveal their previous familiarity with this training ground.

They waited while three academy students who said they were sent on a project from Shisui-sensei, was that Uchiha Shisui? They interviewed Naruto, Sasuke and Yamanaka Ino.

When that finished, they were called up to enclosed tents that were shielded even against Nēji’s Byakugan to his obvious annoyance.

They made their way inside one of the tents with Nēji signing for their scroll and handing it to Tenten who usually carried a large number of scrolls.

They took a gate far from the younger Konoha rookies, but Lee was certain that Nēji would still be able to see his cousin if he tried.

The moment the whistle that started the Second Round officially, they all took off.

Nēji had of course alright used his Byakugan to plot their path to the Tower which was their secondary goal. They intended to make their best speed there and find a scroll on the way.

Lee wondered how Nēji’s cousin Hinata would face this mission as well as his beloved Sakura. He would succeed and prove his worth to her.

XoooooooX

Lee had split with his team on another one of their scroll hunting breaks after a quick meal.

They had plans to return in one hour, however, Lee heard Sakura’s voice and the sound of a battle.

He did not however hear the voices of her teammates, this caused him to worry. Regardless of the Chūnin Exams, Lee’s honor would not allow him to abandon her. He found a squirrel with a paper bomb on its back and saved it. Poor thing, how could someone be so cruel? To a defenseless squirrel, of all things.

He followed the sound of the battle and found Sakura fighting weakly. She must be exhausted, he noticed that Sasuke and Naruto seemed to be unconscious.

Lee jumped in and swore to protect Sakura with his life, choosing to use the Forbidden Jutsu to awake the Primary Lotus. Despite being in the middle of the Second Round of the Chūnin Exams and Lee being her rival to complete the round’s goals, Lee knew that Gai-sensei would understand. The prohibition against use would accept this choice since he was doing this to protect someone precious.

He was practically crying with happiness when Sakura agreed to his help, perhaps, he would win her respect and love.

He was mocked about how effort does have limitations, mentioning something about a wall while he had not recovered from using the Primary Lotus. He was attacked with a sound jutsu that made him receive damage causing his ear to bleed. He was dizzy, his vision was distorted, and his balance was compromised.

Yet his opponent when went for Sakura, Lee just found himself moving anyway. Diving between the sloth guy and his precious Sakura. He ended up taking more sound jutsu direct to his ear and ended up completely incapacitated.

Lee ended up passed out as Sakura caught a second wind.

XoooooooX

Lee woke up on Tenten’s back, “What happened? Where is Sakura?”

“You’re awake?” Nēji drawled.

“Are you alright? You are rather exhausted…”

“Had to step in, you bit off a battle too hard for you. It took Sasuke and I to beat back those Oto-nin. Choji took you and Sakura to safely before they tried to take them on. Pretty strong opponents; since it took you, Asuma-sensei’s team, me and Sasuke to get them to retreat.”

“Sakura fought too,” Lee said weakly.

“No matter.” Nēji scoffed.

Lee was about to protest, but he really didn’t have the energy. “What’s going on now? Do we still need a scroll?”

“No,” Tenten sounded proud, “already handled. Got it while you were passed out. Caught a team off guard when I saw they had the right scroll. We’re on our way to the tower.”

“I can’t believe I missed that,” Lee said sadly.

They travelled in silence to the tower.

XoooooooX

Lee and his team were surprised to see Asuma’s team approaching, but they entered the tower just ahead.

Lee and Nēji had recovered enough chakra to enter on their own strength.

Nēji appeared to read the poem on the wall before he ordered Tenten to hand him one of the scrolls and they would open them together.

Once Lee’s teammates set down the scrolls and backed away, Gai-sensei’s friend Nohara Rin leapt out of the smoke and hugged Lee, “You’re here! You did so well! Gai will be very proud.”

Nēji frowned at her exuberance, “You?”

Rin pouted, “Why? Were you expecting a Hyuga? You’re my favorite genin team, of course, I’d be here. Seeing Lee here reminds me of Gai’s first chūnin exams… he was adorable. I think the most surprising match was Gai vs Kakashi. Granted, Kakashi won and was immediately transferred to the Anbu, but it was still thrilling.”

Lee stood a little straighter as he was told about Gai-sensei, he loved hearing about him as much as learning from his beloved sensei.

Rin reminisced for a moment before her eyes turned sad. “Now, I can’t let my favorite team go in this injured. I’ll help just a little.” She shook her head as she examined Lee, “You’re so much like Gai…”

Lee felt a bit of the injuries from the battle with the Oto-nin lessen. The dizziness and blurred vision were gone, as well as the pain in his left ear. His aching muscle seemed soothed, but there was no impact on his bruises from the battle with the Oto-nin.

Lee hugged her, “Thank you, Rin-san.”

Rin blushed a little, “You really do remind me of him.” Then she turned to Tenten, “You’re more of a distance fighter, so you seem alright for now.” she glanced at Nēji, “I know you rarely have access to a healer, just let me heal a little of the damage from your last battle. Not all of it, just enough to make sure that your body is healing properly.”

Lee watched as Nēji didn’t tell Rin-san no.

One last hug from Rin for Lee and then, she let them go.

They entered a sort of waiting room, where they saw the Suna kunoichi, as well as the team containing Nēji’s cousin, Hinata.

She was sticking close that Aburame, the Inuzuka Kiba as well as his nin-kin Akamaru weren’t there and neither was the tall Suna-nin with the face paint.

Nēji led them over to a set of seats.

Lee watched as Nēji’s cousin hurried over to Yamanaka, he knew well enough to know that Hinata and Ino were best friends. She played medic to her friend’s team before leaning in as if to ask Ino a question while looking at Nēji.

Lee and Tenten politely accepted Hinata’s offer of healing, while Nēji scowled at her.

Hinata tried to offer to heal Nēji’s visible injuries from their battle with the Oto-nin, but Lee saw a look of surprise, gratitude and pain mixed on his teammate’s face as Nēji turned his back on Hinata.

Lee realized that it wasn’t pride that had Nēji refuse, it wasn’t even hatred. It was their status, Nēji clearly felt that the daughter of the main house shouldn’t heal a member of the branch family.

Lee remembered that Nēji was orphaned and he’d never once seen anyone come to celebrate Nēji from the Hyūgas. His father died before his teammate started at the academy, with his mother dying not long after.

Nēji hadn’t had the chance to have a family when he started on his path on the road of Eternal Youth.

Lee wanted to prove he could be not only a rival, but he hoped to become a friend the way that Gai-sensei seemed to be with Kakashi-sensei.

By now, Hinata had returned to Ino’s side and quietly returned to talking. Lee felt a lot better after having been seen by two healers.

XoooooooX

Not long after Kabuto and Sakura’s teams appeared, a very weary and perhaps, pained Anko-san appeared to announce the end of the Second Round.

Anko admitted to being surprised at how many of them had passed but mentioned that there was going to have to be a preliminary round.

Lee worried that this would have an impact on whether he would survive to the end, but he had done well. He was sure that Gai-sensei would be very proud of him no matter what.

They followed Anko-san to the Academy where the Third Hokage congratulated them and gave them a speech about the Chūnin exams. Before he could announce how the Third Round would go, this Round’s proctor asked to introduce this round.

Gekkō Hayate, that was the proctor for the Final Round of the Chūnin Exams, he was a friend of Gai-sensei and a former student at the same time at the Academy.

They were told that there would be a preliminary round, repeating what Anko-san had said a little earlier.

Sakura seemed surprised to Lee’s confusion, then the younger Suna-nin with the strange gourd on his back asked about the rules.

Lee listened carefully, he wanted to see if there were any prohibitions about using his techniques related to the Gates but was grateful when nothing was said about them.

He had expected the next round to begin right away, but to his relief, the first match of the preliminary wouldn’t begin until eight the next morning.

Lee was pleased when Rin reappeared and offered them dinner, Lee was pleased. Another reason to use his brand-new knives!

Rin laughed, “You really don’t understand that celebrations mean you don’t have to cook.”

Lee protested, “There are four of us! I should be able to help at least with Tenten and Nēji’s!”

Rin chuckled, “I’ll let you run and tell your families about your success, Lee and Tenten. I’ll meet you in thirty minutes at my place. I promise not to start without you,”

Lee let out a sigh of relief.

“I’ll need to walk my pack first. Nēji can help me, I suspect that Gai has some business with the proctor.” Rin teased.

Nēji looked pleased when Rin asked for his help especially, Lee felt awful that Nēji had no one to be proud of him.

Lee ran off planning to inform his grandmother, she’d feel bad about not being able to make him a special meal this evening, but he’d just promise her breakfast tomorrow!


End file.
